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Roy Hibbert is a class act

Lee Eddins had hoped he would be able to watch his idol, center Roy Hibbert, play in person when the Indiana Pacers visit Sacramento, Calif., for a game against the Kings in late November.

But Lee, 12, is not expected to live that long.

Diagnosed with stage four leukemia six months ago, Lee has been told he might only have a couple of weeks left to live.

So Hibbert has planned a special surprise. Later this week, he is flying to Sacramento to meet Lee.

"Once I heard he had a dying wish, I knew I had to do something more than send him presents and Skype with him on the computer," Hibbert said.

"I'm usually uncomfortable going to hospitals when the Pacers do events because it's pretty tough to see kids in that situation. Once I heard about (Lee), I realized I had to get over it and do it for him."

Lee has spent his entire young life in California. Hibbert grew up in the Washington D.C. area before joining the Pacers out of Georgetown in 2008. So where did Lee's admiration for Hibbert come from?

"Lee's followed Roy since he was back at Georgetown," Eddins legal guardian Victor Baker said. "Lee likes players from all over the NBA, but there's something about Roy that he liked. I didn't even know he had heard of Roy Hibbert before."

Now Lee will get to meet the 7-footer, and for at least several hours, perhaps focus on something other than the ordeal he's been enduring the past few months.

Lee had what Baker thought were typical "cold or flu symptoms" at the start of the last school year. They bought some over-the-counter medication but Lee's symptoms didn't improve.

So the Bakers -- after many late nights -- took Lee to the hospital. A doctor told them Lee showed signs of being anemic.

"They said he had some kind of blood disorder," Baker said. "They gave him a blood transfusion and that's when he was diagnosed with leukemia. It's the monosomy 7 acute myeloid leukemia, which made him have to have a bone marrow transplant because chemotherapy wouldn't be enough to combat the leukemia. He needed the transplant in order to have a chance to survive."

Instead of playing basketball and football, Lee spent the following months hoping a bone marrow match would be found.

African-Americans have less than a 17 percent chance to find a match compared to 70 percent for Caucasians, according to the New York Stem Cell Foundation.

The Baker's held a bone marrow drive, which entails a simple swab inside the cheek, for Lee.

Sacramento mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson went to visit Lee at his home.

"These kids are forced to grow up so fast when something like this happens. The leukemia Lee has is one of the most serious types of cancer that you can have," said Jamahl Miller, who is on the advisory board for blood source in Sacramento, Calif., and a friend of Baker. It was Miller who started the line of communcation that ultimately led to Hibbert.

Lee finally had the transplant in June. But what he thought would be a happy time turned out to be a major disappointment because the bone marrow didn't take.

Lee and the Bakers continued to fight.

They were prepared to try a second transplant when Lee developed an infection in his left lung. It eventually spread throughout both lungs.

"The doctors did a CT scan to see how his lung was doing, but it was getting worse because the infection was spreading more," Baker said. "The doctors finally decided they didn't want to put him through another round of chemo because it would pretty much suppress his immune system and they didn't feel like he would be able to handle it."

Lee moved from the UC Davis Medical Center to hospice care last week. Family members flew in from around the country last week for a cookout where lots of laughs and tears were shared.

"It's tough because you don't want to see any kid go through anything such as this," Baker said. "He's just 12 years old. He's a good kid who had a future ahead of him. It's tough on everybody. We were thrust into this back in February."

Hibbert knows his visit with Lee won't save the boy's life. He simply wants to enjoy the time they will share and try to lift Lee's spirits as much as possible.

Hibbert also plans to have his mouth swabbed to see if he's a bone marrow match.

"I've had two family members die of cancer," Hibbert said. "It's tough. I seriously don't know what I'm going to say to Lee. I'm just going to be myself. If I can get a smile out of him that will be great."

Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

I still don't think Hibbert the player is worth all that money, but if we were ever gonna overpay someone, at least it was someone who as a person seems to deserves every penny.

For the total package (on and OFF the court) the Pacers are getting, I don't think Roy is overpaid at all.

HIB HIB!

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
Want your own "Just Say No to Kamen" from @mkroeger pic? http://twitpic.com/a3hmca

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Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

This: "Hibbert also plans to have his mouth swabbed to see if he's a bone marrow match."

Roy's value to this franchise is so much bigger than basketball. I remember attending the only PD get together I've been able to attend, and one of the things we discussed is what we thought Hibbert would peak at as a player. As a person, it seems we've hit the jackpot! Hibs seems to be a genuinely good dude, and there sure aren't enough of those in pro sports.

Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

It has been a real experience to see Roy the player and Roy the person blossom here in Indiana. Roy did something that few people, let alone a professional athlete of his caliber who would take the time to make this kid's wish come true. I think we are truly as a team and as the city blessed to have Roy around here and hopefully people will not take things for granted what a gem we have.

Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

The Star thought this story was worthy of being on the FRONT PAGE of today's print edition... Above the fold!!
...My how the times have changed!

To me as a fan... these things make it damn easy to root for a guy like Roy. He's worth every damn penny.

Good. Outstanding, seriously. I don't subscribe, I was worried this'd be buried on page 4 of section B. There's plenty of feel good stories to make up about the current state of franchise, this isn't one. This is a real one, one that should headline every hoops oriented blog on Earth.

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Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

Great thing Roy is doing here and should be commended. But lets also acknowledge that the Pacer's Foundation regularly holds events, appearances, and visits for young terminally ill children all over central Indiana. And they do it with no media story or hoopla, and they rarely toot their own horn about it except for a small section in the game program to call for more volunteers.

Re: Roy Hibbert is a class act

I think Hibbert might not realize what era he plays in. He uses his money to go to events with Fans, help real Pacer fans go to games, and oh yeah fly across the country to visit a sick child.

How far we have come from the likes of Ron Artest, Tinsley, and Stephen Jackson

In fairness I think both Ron and Jack were pretty decent about supporting causes like this (recall Ron's charity trip to Africa). I don't know how many places they (or Tins for that matter) went to and how they interacted with fans typically, but I don't think their rep was gained by brushing off a sick child.

If Roy walked out of Cloud 9 tomorrow and got in a knife fight over a stripper, we'd forget about the sick child visit in a hurry. Roy benefits from avoiding the needless trouble, trouble that often wasn't really Ron or Jack's fault (I suspect Tins might have been a little more "proactive" in the mouthing off dept, but that's speculation). Being "right" in terms of a strip bar fight doesn't eliminate the "I was in a strip bar fight" aspect.

Roy avoids situations that offer strong potential for downside. In that way what happened with Ron, Jack, Tins, Quis, Harrison and Shawne were more disappointing than just "they are thugs". They weren't thugs or gangsters because a real gangster would be smarter about their situations.

Roy is dramatically stronger when it comes to image awareness. I don't mean artificial, I mean he treats his image and how he will be viewed with respect. He respects himself and he respects the expectations of others.

And my point is just that it's not as simple as "be a nice person" because that's a trap. You can't just "be nice", you've got to really understand what's at stake and respect both yourself and others. Plenty of nice guys get into bad situations because they forget that.